Two teenage boys drowned in separate incidents in Durban in KwaZulu-Natal and Hermanus in the Western Cape on Saturday‚ the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) reported.

“At 16h39‚ Saturday‚ 18th November‚ NSRI Durban duty crew were activated following reports of a 10-year-old male swept into the lagoon by waves that had washed over a sand bank where a group of children were playing on the sand bank on the edge of the lagoon (a sand bank between the lagoon and the surf)‚” said NSRI spokesperson Craig Lambinon.

Emergency officials were dispatched to the scene to search for the missing boy.

“On arrival on the scene it was confirmed that the child was missing under water in the lagoon and a Police Search and Rescue team located and recovered the body of the child following an extensive search and the body of the child has sadly been declared deceased by paramedics and taken into the care of the Forensic Pathology Services” said Lambinon.

In a separate incident in Hermanus on Saturday‚ a 13 year old boy disappeared under water in the Kleinmond Lagoon. The teenager was on a school outing when the incident occurred. Lambinon said that the boy and his friends were apparently jumping into the lagoon from a bridge.

“Reports from eye-witnesses suggested that the teenager may have jumped into the water to assist a fellow learner who had gotten into difficulty in the water when he got into difficulty himself and disappeared under water‚” said Lambinon.

NSRI rescue divers were able to locate the body of the boy. Police have opened an inquest docket into both drownings.